


Officers

by Morgyn Leri (morgynleri)



Series: Talents and Resources [2]
Category: Highlander: The Series, The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, GFY, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-09
Updated: 2013-04-09
Packaged: 2017-12-08 00:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/755051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgynleri/pseuds/Morgyn%20Leri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Here's to Colonel Mosby, and to the best commanding officer there ever was."</p>
<p>"And to damned fine lieutenants with a hidden streak of altruism."</p>
<p>Ezra and Vin toast old comrades while the others celebrate the Fourth of July below.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Officers

_Four Corners, 1867_

"Here's to Colonel Mosby, and to the best commanding officer there ever was." Ezra spoke the toast quietly into the night, tipping the glass he held in one hand toward a star picked at random before he poured a shot and tossed it back. Silently watching the celebrations below him that were winding down as the night wore on, not quite willing to go down and join them even though he knew he'd be welcome.

"And to damned fine lieutenants with a hidden streak of altruism."

He turned to look over his shoulder, giving Vin a brief half-smile. "Indeed, Mr. Tanner. Did you come up here with the intention of joining me, or to keep an eye on me for Mr. Larabee?"

"Join you." Vin settled down on the roof next to Ezra, a bottle of whiskey in hand. "Thought you could use the company."

"If I desired company, I could as easily partake of the festivities below." He waved a hand at the people still in the streets.

"You could." Taking a pull from his own bottle, Vin shrugged. "Don't think you will, though."

"And why is that, Mr. Tanner?" Ezra watched Vin out of the corner of his eye, though he was ostensibly watching the dancing in front of the saloon.

"Some of them ain't exactly gonna understand your toast to Colonel Mosby, for one. Or to Colonel McCormick." Vin isn't looking at Ezra, his gaze fixed on Buck as the cowboy drew another giggling woman into the dancing. "Confederacy might have lost, but doesn't make them any less good officers. Loyal to their men."

"No, it does not, Mr. Tanner." Ezra let a smile curl one corner of his mouth, downing another shot of his scotch. "Do you think he's still going by the same name?" It hadn't been until after their rescue of their commanding officer that they'd both realized the other had figured out the colonel's secret, and chosen to keep silent on the matter.

"Probably not." Vin's words were an echo of Ezra's own thoughts, though he thought he could hear a note of regret in his companion's voice. "Probably still back East somewhere, where I left him."

"If he hasn't departed for less dangerous pastures overseas." Ezra smiled a moment, seeing Mary pull Chris out into the street for another dance. "If I had not met Colonel McCormick, I expect I would not have found quite the desire to turn back when I did, in our first engagement since the war."

Vin looked over at him, silent for a long moment until Ezra met his gaze. "You'd have come back, either way." There was a conviction in his voice and his expression that left Ezra feeling a little uncertain. "You might have forgotten a little bit of what you were in between, but you're still the man who'd walk into an enemy camp to break a man out of the stockade."

"I could hardly allow him to remain in captivity when I was aware of his unusual nature." Even now, Ezra didn't quite feel right speaking of Matthew's Immortality, even with another Immortal as Vin was. Something he was certain would appall his mother if Maude knew about it.

"Maybe." Vin gave him a small half-smile and a wink that made it clear Ezra couldn't hide his feelings from the other man. "Reckon you'd have still blown up the stockade for him if he hadn't been."

Ezra smiled after a moment, returning his attention to the town below. "You may be right about that, Mr. Tanner." He lifted his shot glass again, pouring with care so he didn't loose a drop before he tossed it back. The man he'd been when they'd first met might have been lost for a time between then and now, but he wasn't destroyed. Although he couldn't thank a former first sergeant for that. Just a gunslinger in black who'd taken a chance on him, more than once.


End file.
